Mark Lenz: Managing risk in a dangerous world

Sunday

Apr 14, 2013 at 10:00 AMApr 17, 2013 at 5:10 PM

If life is a parade, watch out still for wheels, trains, trash compactors and other hazards. Read on for this week's look at managing risk.

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We generally don't print anonymous letters. Sometimes, though, I cannot in good conscience ignore them. One such letter came in the mail — from a typewriter, no less — promoting the benefits of recycling. It suggested the county add another compactor to its downtown facility. So far, so good.

Then, the unidentified writer reported being unemployed, and continued:"I dumpster dive and check downtown trash cans for pop and beer cans and bottles. The first time I checked the dumpster on the north side of the lot next the Telegram's building I found bundled up papers, so many of them it wasn't funny. 'What?' I thought. 'This is going to be dumped at the landfill.' "

Dear anonymous writer, please note: The large, metal bin on the north side of the Telegram building is NOT a dumpster — it is a paper recycling COMPACTOR. That is why it is full of paper, which we compact and recycle. It also is why no one should ever, ever get into it.

Please, it's one thing to be into recycling. It's another to get stuck in a large compactor where you might become recycling.

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On another potentially life-changing subject, James Sheridan's 500th column about marriage can be found on Page C2 of today's Telegram, titled "Making your marriage your top priority."

Sheridan, also a Lenawee County district judge, estimates he's now written more than 300,000 words in columns about marriage. As usual, his 500th piece takes the high road, emphasizing the benefits of making your marriage your top focus.

But, keeping with today's theme, let's emphasize some of the consequences of ignoring good advice. A recent study showed a decline of marriage in "Middle America," and emphasized that "children born or raised outside of marriage are more likely to suffer from a range of emotional and social problems — including drug use, depression, attempted suicide and dropping out of high school — compared to children in intact, married families."

Read Jim Sheridan's encouraging 500th column, or heed the risks of marriage failure. Either way, there's more at stake with your marriage than you imagine.

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Risky behavior No. 3 — smoking — illustrates a fresh difference between mandatory health insurance and mandatory auto insurance. Auto insurance is (barely) affordable because it charges higher rates to people who engage in risky behavior, such as having multiple drunken driving convictions.

But officials implementing the new federal health law in Washington D.C. last week joined several states in ruling that another risky behavior, smoking, will not result in higher insurance premiums. Mohammad N. Akhter, chair of the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange board, referred in a news release to tobacco use as a "pre-existing medical condition."

I'm not against people in D.C. choosing to smoke but, if they're guaranteed group health insurance, shouldn't it reflect increased medical costs then passed on to others? After all, alcoholics who drink and drive also have a pre-existing medical condition. How affordable would mandatory auto insurance be for anyone if insurers in other states were prohibited from factoring alcohol use while driving?

Draw your own conclusions about what this means for "affordable" mandatory health insurance.

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Rounding out risky behavior is drivers' false sense of security and daydreaming.Adrian High School hosted a well-timed workshop Friday about distractions while driving. It followed last week's announcement of a study finding that daydreaming drivers are involved in five times more fatal accidents (62 percent of all) than drivers using electronic devices (12 percent).

It shouldn't be a surprise. We've pointed out for years that vilifying phones or other devices with bans is itself a distraction from the real killer of motorists — inattention.

One suggestion is to bring back manual transmissions. When you need to shift gears with a stick, it's harder to "space out" — or to text.

Bans may make us feel safer, but reality won't change. A vehicle is a roughly 2-ton object, moving at potentially fatal speeds. Bans won't stop it — a reminder for April since this is Distracted Driving Month.

Whether you dive in dumpsters or just daydream while driving, please, be careful out there.

Mark Lenz, editor of The Daily Telegram, can be contacted at 265-5111, ext. 230, or via email at mlenz@lenconnect.com.